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JIS Services

Over 300 boys from grades one to six at the Bath Primary and Junior High School in St. Thomas participated in the first Boy’s Day held recently at the school.
Several speakers addressed the boys on topics such as respect, the value of reading, drug abuse, good behaviour, values and attitudes, resolving conflicts, self-esteem and the importance of attending school.
The day’s event culminated with a concert, which saw the boys performing cultural items, including songs, skits, dub poems and dance. Hugh Pinnock, a Grade eight student, chaired both sessions.
Among the presenters were Superintendent in charge of the St. Thomas Police Division, Michael James; District Constable at the Bath Police Station, Leonard Lewis; Headmaster of the Paul Bogle Junior High School, Cardova Jackson; Pastor at the Assembly of God Church in Bath, Orville Barrett; Executive Director of Flock Jamaica, Clyde Edwards and Businessman, Christopher Anderson.
Guidance Counsellor, Errol Scott told JIS News that the Day was organized to help the boys develop leadership skills and to build their self-esteem. “As far as leadership is concerned, we’ve observed that our boys are always taking the back seat,” he said. According to Mr. Scott, the boy’s interaction with prominent persons in the society would help to develop their self-confidence.
“After today, the boys that we believe have abilities, should get rid of their shyness and develop more self-confidence,” he said.
Mr. Scott noted that truancy was one of the main concerns at the school, especially among boys. He attributed this to the absence of fathers in homes, noting that most of the boys were living with their grandparents, mothers or an older sibling. “If fathers are there, this problem could be minimised,” he added.
Principal of Bath Primary and Junior High, Delrose Roberts, in her closing remarks said that “conventional skills and methods” in dealing with the average child often did not work when applied to challenging children. She noted that normal methods gave children the impression that the “most reliable and efficient ways to get noticed and have energized and animated involvement is when things are going wrong.”
“The answer is not getting rid of challenging children, but rather having a way of shifting them into a new and enduring pattern of success. Intense children then get to use their intelligence and energies in constructive ways and turn out to be many of our most gifted and wonderful young people,” Mrs. Roberts said.